Do you have air conditioning? I just got it, but before that the side burner was essential. Too hot to cook inside? Everything goes on the grill: meat, sides, salad, dessert. Ok, probably not salad.
I love mine. I have also used it (as mentioned above) to keep stuff prepped and ready when serving a large group. Is it worth $20? Eh, YMMV, but I would definitely drop the additional money.
Like Doctor Who said, I use mine because I don’t want the additional heat inside during the summer. My house has central air and is very well-insulated, but I still prefer to cook outside as much as possible in the warmer months.
I cook a bunch of recipes that call for searing meat and I prefer to use my side burner for that, rather than get a lot of grease splatter on my cook top when turning the meat, and making the kitchen all smoky.
I’d wager kraut.
One other reason that has not been mentioned yet, if you have an electric stove and the power goes out for an extended period (like after a hurricane) a side burner on your grill is essential.
I cook a bunch of recipes that call for searing meat and I prefer to use my side burner for that, rather than get a lot of grease splatter on my cook top when turning the meat, and making the kitchen all smoky.
I’d also wager there are some people who have recipes that call for seared meat, and they would prefer to do that outside rather than get the splatter inside.
Worth noting that some modern gas stoves won’t function without electric power due to electronic ignition, glow bars, and various safety interlocks, so a BBQ grill might be a good backup even for a gas stove.
You’d win that bet!
I use mine for stir-fry all summer. It has a lot more oomph than my inside burners and can get near real stir-fry temps, plus all the smoky smell goes outside rather than in my clothes.
So obvious.
In retrospect.
I want to add this to the “what’s the best thing you learned on the SDMB.” What a fool I’ve been!
The ovens, yes, but the stovetops still work just fine. There could be a super safe outlier somewhere, but all that I’ve seen are a simple valve to open the gas to the stovetop burners. A fact that served me well at the end of February, during my 4 day power outage.